Bollywood Fusion Dance

Bollywood Fusion Dance consists of Indian dance styles combined with Western dance styles. Common Indian dance styles found in fusion dance include Bhangra, Bollywood/Filmi, Classical, and South Indian dance. Besides training in these different Indian dance styles, during high school and college I've had the creative outlet of choreographing in both Indian styles and Western styles such as contemporary and hiphop.

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I first dipped my toes into Bollywood Fusion dance during my junior year of high school, when one of my friends convinced me to join his new competitive dance team, Troy Riyaaz. By my senior year, I was captain and choreographer of Riyaaz, bringing home numerous first place awards. I was even lucky enough to be invited to perform with Novi Nazar, another high school team, at the Bollywood Fusion Nationals competition, Bollywood America. This was only the beginning of meeting dancers in the Bollywood dance circuit! 

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At University, I joined the University of Michigan's premier co-ed Bollywood Fusion dance team, Michigan Manzil. As a freshman, I played the lead role of Violet Beauregard in their 2020 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-themed show (see Michigan Manzil above), and won Best Dancer at Naach Di Cleveland 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. That year, Manzil qualified for the Bollywood America national finals competition in New York City, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an unforgettable season of winning multiple awards (2nd place, 1st place, 3rd place, and Best Costume), and I got to venture to cities such as Madison, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and DC. 

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My sophomore year of University I was elected captain of Manzil, but due to the pandemic we had limited opportunities for practices and performances. 

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Most recently, I began training at The INstitute of Dancers (see commercial dance page), and I was unable to compete full time with Michigan Manzil. Instead, my high school friends invited me to choreograph and dance with them on their all-girls team, Spartan Zaariya, at Michigan State University (MSU). It was convenient for me to join their team because my new training company, The INstitute of Dancers, was just down the road from MSU campus. I travelled to Minneapolis with Zaariya, where they placed 5th place at one of the toughest Bollywood Fusion competitions of the season. This experience was by far my favorite experience and favorite piece to choreograph because I love a powerful, all-girls dance segment (see Spartan Zaariya above). Shoutout to my best friends Natalie, Leya, Sophia, Akshaya, and Shivani for being my long-time dance besties (I danced with them on Troy Riyaaz in high school) and letting me crash at your apartment after late night practices, and also shoutout to all of the Zaariya captains and girls for welcoming me and my crazy choreo ideas with open arms and enthusiasm. I'll only say Go Green, Go White just for you guys! 

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To stay in touch with Bollywood dance at the University of Michigan, I also choreographed for Legends, a dance group within the Indian-American Student Association (IASA) club (see UM IASA above). I had tons of fun meeting students of all grades and being on stage again after the pandemic. I can't wait to come back to IASA in the fall, you might even see me dancing in the all-boys dance!